Ponte Vecchio, piazzale Michelangelo, Oltrarno: Florence is a city of light, of the past and the present, of the Renaissance and the contemporary, home to Florentines and foreigners. Florence offers so much, but how much of her do we truly experience? As 2014 draws near, our readers and staff reveal their plans for making the most of the city in the new year.
Sophie Kruijsdijk: My resolution would be to enjoy the beautiful—and so ridiculously close—countryside around Florence more. The suffocating traffic can get a bit much sometimes when always biking around. A nice escape to the green hills with its fresh air makes city life much more, well, the word says it all: livable.
Jason Thomas Browe: My resolution is to discover Tuscany’s sexiest wine.
Michelle Tarnopolsky: I have some shameful gaps considering my nearly 12 years here. On my list are the bell tower, the Galileo Science Museum, the Horne Museum and the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio. I also resolve to take more advantage of free entrance to the Boboli Gardens for residents!
Georgette Jupe: Drive a Vespa by myself in the countryside and start an ‘adopt a nonna’ campaign, placing Italian nonnas with long-term expats without families in Florence.
Lisa Harvey: Never get jaded, take more photos, and visit all of the museums possible!
Karen Quattrone: Just arrived with my family and am here for a few years. I need to learn the language!
Sheila Corwin: I’d like to take more tours of Florence with Alexandra Lawrence!
Chris Avanzato: Hopefully, getting dual citizenship for Italy/USA as just found out I’m eligible for Italy through my paternal grandfather!!
Buzz McCarthy: Spend more time looking at the 10th century fortress on the hill opposite my villa in the beautiful Garfagnana especially after shopping trips to Firenze.
Bridget Babcox: To walk home from school at least once a week to be able to fully take in the sights instead of rushing by them in a bus or in a taxi. I need to learn more street names! I can get from point a) to point b), but don’t know the names of the streets that got me there.
From the TF TEAM:
Giovanni Giusti: In 2014 I want to enrich my English vocabulary, visit Paris and stop smoking. That last one is tricky because I’ll need to start smoking before I can stop.
Alexandra Korey: Look up. In our daily rush to the office in Florence, we tend to ignore the beauty around us (we’re also watching out for dog poo on the pavement). Sometimes, we need to remember to look up, and maybe take a moment to dart into a church or pause to look at an attractive detail of the city.
Giacomo Badiani: I want to learn Mandarin (and love).
Marco Badiani: I want to take more photos—in truth, it’s my high-resolution for the future! Cloudy weather, whether it’s the tough economic times or the clouds in the sky, is great as it softens and suffuses the light.
Helen Farrell: I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never climbed Giotto’s bell tower, and it’s turned out that many of my female friends haven’t done so either. So, my vow for 2014 is a girls’ trip up the tower, followed by lunch and a couple of glasses of a very nice red.
Leo Cardini: I’d like to go to Paris for three days with Giovanni, smoking a pack of blue Gauloises a day; to draw a sketch of piazza della Signoria for Alexandra, just in case she forgets to look up; to help Giacomo learn Mandarin (without making love); to take a photo from the top of Giotto’s bell tower for Marco, on the day I go there as a tourist guide for Helen’s group of female friends.
Happy 2014!
‘Tis the season to be skating
Whether you are performing triple toe loops or clinging nervously to the rail, there is little better on chilly winter evenings than bundling up in hats and gloves, tightly lacing your boots and taking to the ice. The open-air rink at the Parterre in piazza della Libertà (until January 6, call 335/6749849) is open until 1am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, as well as Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Alternatively, head to the Toscana Winter Park at the Obihall (until March 2, www.firenzewinterpark.it), which has not only a partially covered ice rink but also a ski slope and toboggan run.
